An Employer, Not An Employee

The thought processes that an employer needs to follow are very different to those of the employee. Many of us starting out  have been “employees” rather than “employers” and struggle with the differentiation. My own definitions as a business owner for the two are;

• Employer: the person responsible for creating, managing and maintaining a business.
• Employee: an individual responsible for participating in generating business success.

The two have a mutual goal – the success of the company. Without the company, neither can exist.

So what does this mean as an employer?

You have made a decision to invest in a role in your organisation. You have weighed up the merits of creating this role and ensured that the motivation is correct. You are certain you can answer the question “what will this role do to grow and enhance my business?” You now must go and find the correct person for that role.

Many of us are tempted to bring friends, family, collegues into the business “as a favour” or because its more cost-effective. This is not ultimately the correct call. You need to bring in the person who is the right person, not a square peg for a round hole. The investment in employing a person is large;

• Salary.
• Cost of payroll.
• Office space and equipment.
• Pensions, bonus schemes, allowances….
• Your time or others management time.
• Training

It is important to bring the correct person on board. So you go through your interview process carefully and select the right person for the job. Hiring done.

But your role as an employers does not stop at paying the employee a salary. You must mentor, motivate, coach, sometimes criticize, expectation manage, delegate and support that employee so that they give the business the 110% that you are looking for.

Where possible, share business decision making processes and reasoning to help them understand the current and future plans for the company.

Remember though, they are there to support your business and to show tangible worth to its success. If they are not, you need to ask yourself why not. If it’s your fault e.g. insufficient resources, lack of support, poor mentoring, then see what you can do to address these issues. If it is the fault of the employee, get them on a performance improvement plan immediately, they will either step up to the plate, leave, or be dismissed on sound ground i.e. the improvement plan agreed and undertaken.

Not nice – but then you are not running a charity to support that person and this is probably the biggest change in attitute that you the employer needs to make over being an employee!

Anyone anything else to add on the mindset differences between the two?

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